History Creator / BenjaminFranklin

* Creator/MichaelDouglas portrays him in the 2024 {{biopic}} miniseries ''Franklin''.

[[folder:Real Life]]

* Actor Creator/BillyBobThornton apparently believes he's reincarnated from Ol' Ben.

* Appears in the HBO miniseries ''UsefulNotes/JohnAdams'', played by Creator/TomWilkinson, where he is generally played as Adams' foil: witty, popular and sly, in comparison to Adams' earnest and blunt firebrand.

* In BigFinishDoctorWho during the Anti-Time arc Benjamin Franklin is mentioned as being a President, one of the deliberate errors hinting that history is breaking down as Anti-Time infects the Web of Time.

* In ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' #169, the article "A MAD History of Sex", writes: "Perhaps the greatest Sexual Figure in Revolutionary times was also known as "The Father of Our Country". His name was Benjamin Franklin. We realize some people think UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington was the father of our country, and you may say "You don't know your history." All we can say is "You don't know your Benjamin Franklin!"

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': Doc Brown keeps a portrait of Franklin in his home alongside portraits of UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein, and Sir UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton, {{foreshadowing}} the lightning strike climax in 1955.

* He appears in the ''Series/GhostsUS'' episodes “The Liquor License” and “The Christmas Spirit, Part Two” alongside Issac, an acquaintance as well as one of the main ghosts.

* He appears in the ''Series/GhostsUS'' episodes “The Liquor License” and “The Christmas Spirit, Part Two” alongside Issac, one of the main ghosts.

* He appears in the''Series/GhostsUS'' episodes “The Liquor License” and “The Christmas Spirit, Part Two”alongside Issac, one of the main ghosts.

* Appears in ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', playing a game of charades with UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein, {{Confucius}}, and The Stations.

[[Film/TheAvengers2012 Genius, millionaire, playboy, philanthropist]]. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution.

* The 1976 Creator/RankinBass Christmas/New Years special ''WesternAnimation/RudolphsShinyNewYear'' (a follow up to [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1964 the original 1964 Rudolph special]]) introduces Sev (aka "1776") who is designed and based after Benjamin Franklin. Sev lives on "The Island of 1776" which celebrates Independence Day every day who befriends [[Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]], O.M., and Sir 1023 as they search for Happy (the new "Baby New Year") who gets kidnapped by Eon.

* The 1976 Creator/RankinBass Christmas/New Years special ''WesternAnimation/RudolphsShinyNewYear'' (a follow up to [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1964 the original 1964 Rudolph special]]) introduces Sev (aka "1776") who is designed and based after Benjamin Fraklin. Sev lives on "The Island of 1776" which celebrates Independence Day every day who befriends [[Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]], O.M., and Sir 1023 as they search for Happy (the new "Baby New Year") who gets kidnapped by Eon.

* The 1976 Creator/RankinBass Christmas/New Years special ''WesternAnimation/RudolphsShinyNewYear'' (a follow up to [[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer1964 Rudolph]]) introduces Sev (aka "1776") who is designed and based after Benjamin Fraklin. Sev lives on "The Island of 1776" which celebrates Independence Day every day who befriends [[Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]], O.M., and Sir 1023 as they search for Happy (the new "Baby New Year") who gets kidnapped by Eon.

His writings are still widely read today. Among them: his autobigraphy, and many of his letters, including one addressed to [[SophisticatedAsHell The Royal Academy of]] [[ToiletHumor Farting]]. He wasn't just ahead of his time as an inventor either: his "The Speech of Polly Baker" called out the DoubleStandard of the day in punishing women who bore illegitimate children but doing nothing to the men who fathered them, he was an abolitionist, and opened one of the first free libraries in the colonies. He also, in his will, left bequests to his beloved cities of Boston (where he was born) and Philadelphia (his adopted home) that were still funding the cities into the 1990's, but he was ''not'' a President,[[note]][[ExactWords Of the United States, at least.]] He ''was'' President (basically Governor, but his formal title was President) of Pennsylvania from 1785 to 1788. He was also president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia in 1751, which later became the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania.[[/note]] and he did not write the Declaration of Independence (although he did edit it), and he didn't found the Ben Franklin dime store chain. As a consolation, he is the only person whose signature appears on all three founding documents of the United States of America – the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, and the US Constitution, as well as the treaty allying UsefulNotes/{{France}} with the United States.

** He also appears in ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedRogue'', which establishes him as little more than a pawn of both the Templar and Assassin factions. The ending shows that [[spoiler:his actions may have indirectly led to the Templar-backed French Revolution]]

* The first level of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAirborne'' opens with a quote from Franklin imagining the idea of paratroopers and the "infinite deal of mischief" they might do before they could be repelled, more than a century before paratroopers even existed, as befitting the game's primary gimmick of the player entering every level via parachute drop.

* His ghost is a major character in ''Webcomic/AGirlAndHerFed''. (He's close friends with an attention-deficit woman who sets people on fire, a cyborg fed, and a genetically-engineered koala supergenius.)

* According to the [[AllThereInTheManual official backstory]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', one major divergence point between its history and ours is that [[WhatTheHellHero Franklin betrayed Washington]] in return for a title of [[TheEmpire Britannian]] nobility and land, meaning that the United States of America never came into being. The show's [[{{Immortality}} immortal]] female lead C.C. speaks of Ben and his peaceful nature wistfully, implying that she knew him personally.

* ''Film/DefendingYourLife'' sees a model telling a talk shot host in the afterlife that she slept with Franklin twice -- and that he was "[[BiggusDickus fat]]".

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706[[labelnote:†]] [January 6, 1705/6 as he would have known it under the old style Julian Calendar still in use during his early life; the Colonies adopted the Gregorian New Style calendar in 1752][[/labelnote]] – April 17, 1790) was [[RenaissanceMan a printer, author, scientist, musician, inventor, diplomat]], [[ReallyGetsAround ladies']] man, revolutionary, and one of the coolest and most fascinating people in American history. Managed to make it onto UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates hundred dollar bill ([[AndZoidberg and the 50-cent piece from 1948 to 1963]]) without being [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates the president]]. Invented bifocal lenses, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod, after proving that lightning was just electricity rather than the wrath of an angry god. If you ever take a tour anywhere in Philadelphia's historical district, you will learn that he invented pretty much everything. Even TheInternet. He's probably the most famous person in American history to the rest of the world.

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706[[labelnote:†]] [January 6, 1705/6 as he would have known it under the old style Julian Calendar still in use during his early life; the Colonies adopted the Gregorian New Style calendar in 1752][[/labelnote]] – April 17, 1790) was [[RenaissanceMan a printer, author, scientist, musician, inventor, diplomat]], [[ReallyGetsAround ladies']] man, revolutionary, and one of the coolest and most fascinating people in American history. Managed to make it onto UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates hundred dollar bill ([[AndZoidberg and the 50-cent piece from 1948 to 1963]]) without being UsefulNotes/{{The President|s}}. Invented bifocal lenses, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod, after proving that lightning was just electricity rather than the wrath of an angry god. If you ever take a tour anywhere in Philadelphia's historical district, you will learn that he invented pretty much everything. Even TheInternet. He's probably the most famous person in American history to the rest of the world.

* In one edition of ''[[VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997 Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'', you and your Good Guide, Polly Tix, meet him while trying to get Declaration of Independence back from one of Carmen's crooks. [[spoiler: Later, he helps clue you to where Carmen is going.]]

* If you ever have a fortune cookie that begins with "Creator/{{Confucius}}/Creator/{{Laozi}}/[[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddha]]/whoever says:", chances are that they were said by ''Ben Franklin'' and not Creator/{{Confucius}}/Creator/{{Laozi}}/whoever. The reason for this is quite simple: Confucius, Laozi, and Gautama Siddhartha were philosophers and teachers, and many of their notable quotes were paradoxes meant to make you use your brain, whereas Ben's are [[NotableQuotables much more easily accessible to non-dedicated scholars]].

* Appears in ''ScudTheDisposableAssassin'', as a devil-worshiping [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy voodoo crime lord]] who [[LightningCanDoAnything used lightning to create his zombie army.]]

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': Doc Brown keeps a portrait of Franklin in his home alongside portraits of UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein, and Sir Isaac Newton, {{foreshadowing}} the lightning strike climax in 1955.